SEDNEY : Fifth India-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue

SEDNEY : India and Australia convened their fifth Bilateral Cyber Policy Dialogue on 17 November 2022 in New Delhi. The dialogue was co-chaired by Joint Secretary (Cyber Diplomacy Division) Ms. Muanpuii Saiawi from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India and Dr. Tobias Feakin, Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia.

The Cyber Policy Dialogue was held under the auspices of the India-Australia Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber-Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation and Plan of Action 2020-2025 for a comprehensive and deeper cyber cooperation.

The Indian delegation consisted of senior officials from National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Electronics and Information technology (MEITY), Department of Telecommunications (DoT), CERT-In and National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).
The Australian delegation comprised of senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Home Affairs, Department of Industry Science and Resources, and the Australian Federal Police.

The Cyber Policy Dialogue provides a bilateral platform to discuss a range of high-profile issues of mutual interest. Discussions at this Dialogue included strategic priorities, cyber threat assessment, next generation telecommunications (including 5G technology) capacity building and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, and the latest developments in cyber at the United Nations.
Australia and India agreed to explore opportunities for further collaboration with the private sector and academia, including through the Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership. Australia and India will jointly conduct a Cyber Bootcamp, as well as Cyber and Tech Policy Exchanges, in collaboration with Indo-Pacific partners.

The sixth India-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue will be held in 2023.